ENCS 282 Assignment Sheet: Research Proposal

This assignment is a hypothetical research proposal it asks that you respond to an imaginary, competitive call for undergraduate research projects similar in kind to those published by many foundations, universities and government agencies. The purpose of this assignment is not for you to actually submit the proposal or complete the research in the proposal, but to give you a chance to develop skills in articulating your future research interests and convincing various audiences that those research interests ought to be funded. You should read what appears below, therefore, as a hypothetical call for project proposals, also called a request for proposal. Please pay close attention to the information asked for in the request for proposals. You must directly answer, and satisfy, the criteria provided in the format requested. Request for Proposal The National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is now offering summer research grants in the amount of $10,000 to qualified undergraduates whose proposals meet the requirements that follow. Grants require ten weeks of full-time work on a carefully defined project under the direction of a supervisor who has the qualifications to advise and evaluate the project. Any project that is judged appropriate for an honors thesis, junior or senior design project, or independent study might qualify. At the end of the study, every student participant must prepare a research monograph describing the work in detail, the anticipated results of the work and the sources - bibliography, research contacts, facilities - used in the course of the project to be published by NSERC. Proposals must call for work by a single student researcher. Evaluation Criteria: Projects will be evaluated according to the following criteria: Does the project identify and describe a technical problem in detail? Is the scope of the project well defined? Can the goals of the research be reached within the ten-week time limit? Is the project well defined? Has the applicant prepared a step-by-step analysis? Is the project sufficiently rigorous and demanding? Does the project address an issue that is important in the discipline? Application Process: !The proposal must contain the following sections and only the following sections. ! 1. Cover Page: !This should include the title of the proposal, author's name, date, address, phone number(s) and e-mail address. It should also include an abstract (not longer than 150 words) that offers a brief overview of the problem the research will address and the proposed solution. 2. Introduction: In this section, you should briefly describe the problem, in broad terms, to be examined during the period of the grant, give a brief preview of the proposed solution, and explain why this is an important project. 3. Technical Description of Problem: In this section, you should offer a detailed explanation of the problem that will be solved. This will require some form of technical description in which you offer a detailed analysis of the cause(s) of the problem and a clear indication that you understand how the technologies associated with the problem work. A technical description explains an object, a mechanism, substance, organism, or system. The information contained in a description should be verifiable, and the format of the description must conform to designated standards. Describing a problem requires precision. At the end of this section, you should include a statement of need that explains why this problem ought to be solved. 4. Proposed Solution: This section should explain your proposed solution to the problem, in sufficient technical detail it may require a technical description of your proposed solution. It should also explain the methods to be used in solving the problem, any theoretical background required for solving the problem, and a proposed plan for solving the problem (this includes a list of materials

that might be required and an account of how long it might take). 5. Concluding Remarks: In this section, you should explain the advantages and benefits of the proposed solution or outcome of your research. You should also include an assessment of why your proposed research is better (or an improvement upon) other kinds of research being done in this field or other solutions to this problem. Finally, the conclusion should summarize the research proposal, and answer the following question as directly as possible: why should NSERC fund this project? 6. Bibliography or Supporting Documentation: A complete list of any sources referred to in the proposal (using standard citation format), and any other supporting documentation that you think might help convince NSERC to fund your project (but keep it brief, your proposal should not exceed 10 pages including the cover page). General Guidelines: Proposals should be submitted in class on Tuesday, October 19th. Proposals should use 12 point, Times New Roman font with one inch margins, doublespaced, and they should not exceed 10 pages in total (including the title page). We will ask the following question when we grade the proposals: would we fund this project? In other words, are we convinced that this is a good idea and that the student will succeed? If we answer yes, you are likely to do very well on the assignment.